I went to Warwick model boat show last November, on the mountfleet model boats stand he had a very large GRP tid tug hull and super structure, not sure if it the same as the one from models by design? How will you be launching it into the water?

Due to the damn weather (rained ALL day sunday, typical British weather!) I have to delay the water test, i'm hoping to get her wet either this week sometime or at the weekend!

In the meantime I've began to fix the deck, fit the rudder servo & linkage etc & finished off the keel (will post pics soon!).

For launching her, I'm going to be using 2x slings to lower & raise in/out of water, total weight of hull without the ballast/superstructure will be around 10kg so not too heavy. Then once in the water I will then add the ballast (batteries!). The whole of the superstructure is also removable.

The TID at warwick may well have been the same as mine which i got from Models By Design, but in the last few months I've heard that Models By Design has sold the mould for this to Mountfleet models (along with some others) I believe, so this is no longer available from Models By Design.

Great project and pictures. I too use slings to put my Assurance tug in the water, somewhat smaller than yours at 43" long but its a good way to do it. I did run into an issue the other day with mine when the current was running strong enough that even with weights on the slings, they were being blown away faster than I could get lined up for the lift! Finally just leaned over the dock rail and grabbed it out of the water! Its pretty heavy when all in place, batteries etc. Look forward to seeing your tug in the water.

Great project and pictures. I too use slings to put my Assurance tug in the water, somewhat smaller than yours at 43" long but its a good way to do it. I did run into an issue the other day with mine when the current was running strong enough that even with weights on the slings, they were being blown away faster than I could get lined up for the lift! Finally just leaned over the dock rail and grabbed it out of the water! Its pretty heavy when all in place, batteries etc. Look forward to seeing your tug in the water.

hehe yeh, i can imagine with strong winds it will be annoying! I wouldnt even try to lift mine out of the water with everything inside the hull, batterys alone weigh around 25kg! ..my back would snap first lol

hehe aye, but its not as bad as it sounds! ..each battery only weighs 6.5kg & each battery will be put in the hull once the hull is in the water & vicer versa, when I've finished sailing, then the batterys will be removed first along with other ballast & then I will remove the hull from water lastly

Here's an update anyway!

Prop shaft & rudder all done, will grab some video soon of it in the water, but i did a dry test with the prop running & its very smooth with no vibrations which is good as it means of course that the alignment is good etc.

Also stained/varnished the wheelhouse & made a start on the wheel, also cut out the rest of the deck pieces which are ready to be fixed in place & also made a cutout on the stern for access to the rudder linkage/servo..

Using some 2mm copper sheet I made some braces for the keel, I made a simple jig using some wooden dowel so just a fraction of the dowel was exposed, I then placed the brass brace over this & tapped it with a hammer, this then gave the shape of the prop shaft so it sat around it snug on the keel..

The top half of keel is screwed in from inside of the hull through a piece of 3x2 block of wood which I fixed in place using Epoxy

I used JB Marine Weld to fix & seal the keel to the Hull & Prop Shaft..

I then covered the keel with JB Marine Weld, this made it solid as well as make it water proof

I then added the copper braces to add strength joining the top & bottom parts of keel to the prop shaft, again these were fixed in place using JB Marine Weld, these were held in place using a few pieces of scrap wood while the Marine Weld set..

Once set I then sanded down to a smooth finish..

I then used some Epoxy Putty to shape the area above the prop joining the keel to the rudder support/rudder shaft, I then coated it using JB Marine Weld & then sanded for a smooth finish..

I cut out the rest of the deck pieces, once I have the electrics sorted, these deck pieces will be perma fixed in place & then covered with some filler..

Hole made for access to Rudder Linkage & Servo..

Wheelhouse Stained & Varnished..

Made a start on the wheel, need to add handles which will be in form of 4mm Brass tube..

I cut out access hole for access to the rudder servo/linkage, this will be hidden once the deck/fittings are finished.

I used a little JB marine weld to hold the position of servo support beams, JB Marine Weld is quite slow setting so It gave me time to make small adjustments during the cure so I made sure alignment was good.

I then used some P40 to bond the beams in place & I also made a timber frame around the rudder support & filled this with some P40 & then Gorilla Epoxy around the edges to be sure it was watertight..

Decided to go New Brighton with my pops to give her a water test (moment of truth as they say!) ..Turned out great, Still needs more ballast as I expected, But the 12-volt is plenty so no need for me to mess about with 24-volts